Think THINK English ENGLISH - The Curriculum Project

ThinkTHINKEnglishENGLISHELEMENTARY UNITS 1-6Teacher’s BookEducasiaEducation in Context

ABOUTUS AND THIS BOOKThis book is published under Creative Commonslicense: CC Atribution-NonCommercialNoDerives-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-ND-SA)ShareAlike is only possible upon a writtenpermission from Thabyay Education Foundation.For more information about our copyright policyand Creative Commons licenses, please lished 2015We value feedback. If you have any comments,corrections or suggestions for improvement,please contact us at educasia@thabyay.org andinfo@curriculumproject.orgFor more information about our services andproducts, or to order our books, please contact usor visit our websites: www.educasia.org andwww.curriculumproject.orgGraphic design and layout by Katherine Gibney: www.accurateyak.carbonmade.com

ContentsIntroductioniPlacement TestviiiCourse MapxiiiUnit 1: Names and Countries1Unit 2: Family and Jobs18Unit 3: People and Things36Unit 4: Times and Activities56Unit 5: Food and Numbers74Unit 6: Houses and Directions92Pairwork110Revision114Language Reference130Grammar and Usage130Phonetic Alphabet137World Map138Audio Scripts139Resources156Progress Tests162Units 1-2 Test162Units 3-4 Test166Units 5-6 Test171Answers176

IntroductionThink English Elementaryis the first half of a 12 unit English coursedesigned for adult learners from Myanmar.It is useful for Myanmar people who want tocommunicate in English including: People who work with English speakers University students who want tosupplement their English studies Post-secondary students who want toimprove their English Adult learners in education courses andprogrammes Teachers who want communicativeteaching ideas for their classes Teachers who want locally relevant materialto supplement a commercial English course People who travel abroad.It is designed for adult and young adultstudents of English (around 16 ). Some of thetopics and functions are not appropriate forprimary, middle or high school students.Components of Think EnglishThink English consists of a Student’s Book, aTeacher’s Book and audio recordings for thelistening activities. All these components andother additional material can also be downloadedfrom our websites: www.educasia.org andwww.curriculumproject.org1. Student’s BookThe Student’s Book 1-6 has 6 units, each with astructural, functional and skills focused syllabi.Every unit includes a Learning Strategies section,where students look at ways they can improve theirown language learning, and a Practice sectioncovering language studied in that unit.At the back of the book there are: a section of Pair-Work activities for Partner Aand Partner B two Revision sections where students reviewthe language covered in Units 1-3 and 4-6 a Language Reference containingiTHINK ENGLISH ELEMENTARYinformation about the main language andgrammar points covered in each unit, aphonetic chart and a world map Audio Scripts2. Teacher’s BookThe Teacher’s Book 1-6 contains detailedteaching instructions and answers to exercises. Atappropriate points, Language & Culture Notesexplain specific linguistic and cultural features ofEnglish-speaking countries, and Extra Idea boxessuggest activities for further practice. In addition,the Teacher’s Book includes: advice on how to use the course mosteffectively: ways to adapt it to suit your class;ideas for extra practice exercises and activities;explanations of frequently-used terms; andsuggested extra materials to supplement thecourse a Placement Test to check whether ThinkEnglish Elementary is the right level for yourstudents a Resources section with classroom activitiesyou can photocopy or copy by hand three Progress Tests, one for every threeunits, to let you know how well students canunderstand and use the language and skillscovered in the course a CD including audio recordings in MP3format.What’s different about Think English?Think English is written for Myanmar peopleand context. Most other commercially publishedcourses are written for Europeans or LatinAmericans who want to live or travel in theUK or North America. Teachers and learners inMyanmar, and throughout Asia, often find thatthe topics and functions in these materials havelittle in common with their lives, experiences andambitions.Think English focuses on the specific needs,context and learning environment of Myanmarlearners, while also including a lot of worldknowledge content.TEACHER’S BOOKINTRODUCTION

Think English teaches mostly British English as thisis more familiar to Myanmar students. However,we highlight potentially confusing differencesbetween British English and other dialects such asAmerican and Australian English. A wide variety ofaccents, both native and non-native, are used inthe audio recordings.A module for your contextThink English was developed to meet Myanmarpeople and classrooms’ needs. It focuses on thelanguage and skills that Myanmar people need tocommunicate effectively in English.Think English has a world knowledge, socialawareness and critical thinking focus. Topicsinclude social, environmental and developmentalissues. International settings are fully explainedfor teachers or students who are not familiar withWestern cultural norms.There is a little more emphasis on speaking andlistening than reading and writing. Middle andhigh schools in Myanmar tend to focus on readingand writing, so students’ speaking and listeningskills are often weaker and require more practice.There is more structural detail about theEnglish language than you may find in mostcommunicative textbooks, as Myanmar students(and teachers) are often interested in this.Teachers are not expected to be fluent in Englishand the Teacher’s Book has clear, step-by-stepinstructions and explanations, without too muchcomplicated language.the language within the course. For classes withless time, we provide guidance on what parts toskip.At the end of each unit is a short, optionalLearning Strategies section. This encouragesstudents to reflect on their own language learningand suggests practical ways to improve.MethodologyLearning a language requires both input (listeningand reading) and output (speaking and writing).Vocabulary and grammar are part of these.Learners need to understand vocabulary andgrammar when they listen and read, and usethem when they speak and write.Think English includes a lot of interactionactivities, as many Myanmar learners get fewopportunities for English language interactionoutside class. During interaction they get bothexposure to the new words and structures(reading and hearing them), and practice usingthem (speaking and writing). This makes it easierfor them to learn the language.Many Myanmar teachers are familiar with a moretraditional approach to teaching English thatfocuses on grammar, translation and memorising.This is a communicative course, focusing onthe skills and language needed for real-lifecommunication. However, communicative activitiesare explained step-by-step for teachers withoutmuch experience of communicative classrooms,and there are opportunities to use more traditionallearning methods where appropriate.Learning tasks for classrooms are designed forlow-resource settings. The only equipment thatteachers need is a board, pens or chalk and anaudio CD or cassette player. A few activitiesrequire text to be copied from the back ofthe book, but this can be done by hand if aphotocopier is not available.Think English is cheap to photocopy or print asthere are no colour images inside. The student’smaterial is all in one book (not separate classroombook and workbook) to reduce expense.The course is longer than other elementarycourses. Many Myanmar learners have fewopportunities to practise English outside theclassroom, so there are more opportunities to useTHINK ENGLISH ELEMENTARYTEACHER’S BOOKINTRODUCTIONii

How do I use Think EnglishElementary?1. Is it the right level for my students?This is an elementary course. It starts at a highbeginner level, and the final few units are at anearly pre-intermediate level. If you are not surewhether students are at the right level to studythis, give them the Placement Test.If it is much too difficult, students should study abeginner course. If it is much too easy, studentsshould study a pre-intermediate or higher course.2. My students find this quite easy, but theyare not ready to study a pre-intermediatecourse.Before you start teaching a part of the book, youcan give students the Progress Test, Practicesection or Review section, to find out what theyare good at and what they are not so good at.Then you can focus on the language and skillsthey most need to improve, and skip the rest.Teach it quickly. Skip activities that take a lot oftime and sections covering language that yourstudents already know well. Supplement thematerial in the book with more difficult material(see Supplementary Resources).3. My students find this quite difficult, butthey don’t need an elementary course.Teach it slowly. Explain points carefully, and givedetailed feedback on common errors. As youteach, add extra exercises and activities, both inclass and for homework.5. I don’t have a tape player / CD player /electricity / photocopier.Most of the listening exercises are easy to makeinto reading exercises, using the Audio Scripts.You can read out the scripts yourself, or getstudents to read them to the rest of the class.There are only five activities that require copyingtext (see pages 156-160), and you can do it byhand if you don’t have a copying machine.6. How can I check that they are learning?As you are teaching, ask students questions usingthe functions and structures they have beenstudying (see point 3 above).Observe students’ performance of the activities inthe book. See if they are mostly getting exercisescorrect, and are completing tasks withoutdifficulty. Pay particular attention to how well theycomplete the Practice exercises at the end ofeach unit, and the Revision exercises after everythree units.Use the six Progress Tests. These testunderstanding and use of the language fromUnits 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12.7. I don’t have much time in class. This courseis too long.Teach it quickly, skipping sections and exercisesthat are time-consuming, too easy, too hardor not very useful. Use the Progress Tests andPractice and Revision sections to decide what tofocus on. Give lots of homework. Many parts ofthis course, e.g. most of the writing, Practice andRevision sections, can be done outside of class.Supplement the course with other materials. Usegraded readers, vocabulary and grammar books,and other skills-focused material to help studentsunderstand and use the language they arelooking at.4. I have a mixed-level class. Some studentsare beginner, and some are pre-intermediatelevel. Most are elementary.In the classroom, use pairwork. Pair a weakstudent with a strong one for some tasks, andpair stronger and weaker students together forother tasks. Give weaker students extra materialproviding simple practice of target structures andfunctions. Give stronger students extra, harder,material that builds on the target structures andfunctions to extend their knowledge.iiiTHINK ENGLISH ELEMENTARYTEACHER’S BOOKINTRODUCTION